Although Xiao Qifeng didn’t go into much detail, his words hit everyone present like a thunderclap, leaving them completely stunned!
Su Qiao’s elders had actually planned to trade her in marriage?
Hardly anyone knew about this!
And this young man, he said he had just been discharged from the hospital after recovering from an injury and only got home this morning?
Immediately, everyone’s attention turned to his leg.
Xiao Qifeng had just said that he’d been in the hospital for three months because of an injury, and his mother, worried he might be permanently disabled, had rushed to find him a wife.
When he first entered the courtyard, many people noticed that his leg was still slightly lame—
So what Su Qiao had said, that her uncle’s family was trying to sell her off, wasn’t wrong at all!
Not to mention that when Wang Lanxiang arranged this marriage, Xiao Qifeng was still in the hospital, and nobody knew whether his leg would fully recover.
Even without Xiao Qifeng, they were still planning to trade their niece for money!
Su Qiao was the village’s only high school student. If she went on to college, it would be a source of pride for all of Xiaojin Village!
Even if she didn’t attend university, with her family’s situation, the government would still arrange a job for her after graduation. She’d be on public support with a promising future.
Under these circumstances, arranging a marriage behind her back, or to a disabled person, was clearly the fault of the old Su family.
Jin Guiyou shot a cold glance at Sun Changfu and suddenly asked, “How much money did you take from Xiao Qifeng’s family?”
Sun Changfu, already stunned, went completely pale, his face turning purple. He struggled to answer, but no words came out.
At that moment, a commotion erupted not far away.
Soon, two boys, one older, one younger, came barreling toward the courtyard like cannonballs.
From a distance, one of them, with a quivering, crying voice, shouted, “Sister! Sister! Was Xiao Lan lost? Where did she go?!”
Su Qiao, who had been standing in the middle of the courtyard, still reeling from Xiao Qifeng’s words, felt her whole body tremble at the sound.
She whirled around, unable to believe her eyes, staring at the two figures, and whispered, “Xiao Wei… Xiao Peng?”
As the two boys ran closer, tears streamed down her face.
Shouting “Xiao Wei! Xiao Peng!” at the top of her lungs, Su Qiao rushed forward like a woman possessed, wrapping the two boys tightly in her arms and sobbing uncontrollably.
Her brothers! Her two brothers had come back!
Su Qiao held them close, her eyes lingering on their faces with a look that seemed to want to protect them forever in her embrace.
The overwhelming joy of being reunited with her lost siblings made Su Qiao cry so hard that she couldn’t catch her breath, and it took her a long while to calm down.
Xiao Wei was already fourteen, a tall, grown boy, even slightly taller than his sister.
The moment he stepped inside, his first sight was his little sister standing hand in hand with their eldest sister. Before he could even relax, Su Qiao lunged at him and held him tightly.
His entire body stiffened, every part of him feeling awkward and uncomfortable.
Since he could remember, Xiao Wei had never been this close to his sister.
And of course, he had never seen her cry like this.
At first, Xiao Wei felt embarrassed, but as soon as his gaze fell on the bruises and marks on his eldest and youngest sisters, his face darkened instantly.
“Sis!”
He struggled free from Su Qiao’s embrace, gripping her shoulders with both hands, his voice furious: “Who bullied you and Xiao Lan? Tell me, and I swear I’ll finish them off!”
His eyes scanned the people around them, then landed on Li Zhuang, whose face was still bruised and swollen from earlier.
Li Zhuang immediately felt a chill run down his spine and, without thinking, shrank behind his mother.
“Was it you, Li Zhuang? Did you bully Xiao Lan again?” Xiao Wei’s eyes blazed with anger as he demanded an answer.
The way he looked, if Su Qiao even said “yes,” he would have rushed forward to confront Li Zhuang without hesitation.
“It’s nothing. I just felt a sudden ache in my heart seeing you two, but it’s okay now.” Su Qiao finally pulled herself together after the shock of seeing her two younger brothers.
She wiped her tears and didn’t say more.
First, she bent down to pick up her little sister, who had rushed over and clung to her legs while wailing, then took her little brother by the hand, motioning for her brother to follow.
The four siblings walked together toward Jin Guiyou.
Su Qiao glanced at the onlookers first, then fixed her gaze on Jin Guiyou and spoke: “Uncle Jin, and all the uncles, aunts, and elders in the village, thank you for helping us find Xiao Lan just now. Sorry for troubling everyone.”
After saying this, she bowed toward the crowd, still holding her little sister in her arms.
Seeing their sister act this way, Su Wei and Su Peng hurriedly followed suit, while Xiao Lan, still in Su Qiao’s arms, also hurriedly bowed her head slightly toward everyone.
Almost everyone present had watched the four Su children grow up. Su Qiao’s earlier confrontation had already made people realize how much these kids had suffered.
Now, seeing the four siblings crying and hugging each other, the sight tugged painfully at everyone’s hearts. Some women with sensitive eyes had already started shedding tears.
Su Qiao was such a strong-willed child! Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to study so well and become the pride of the entire village, even after losing both parents!
For a child like her to be reduced to tears like this… one could only imagine how much she had silently endured!
At this moment, seeing the four siblings lined up and solemnly bowing to express their gratitude, many people felt as if they themselves wanted to cry along with them.
It was truly heartbreaking!
“It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s what should be done!”
“Don’t cry, good children, don’t cry. Whatever it is, just speak up. All the uncles and elders are here, someone will stand up for you!”
“That’s right, Xiao Qiao, whatever you want to say, just say it, we’re all listening!”
Su Qiao straightened up and first looked at everyone with gratitude, saying simply, “Thank you.”
Then she turned her gaze back to Jin Guiyou: “Uncle Jin, since everyone is here and all four of us siblings are present, I, Su Qiao, want to make my stance clear.
Today, I will take my younger brothers and sisters back home to live with me. From now on, I will be responsible for their care. I swear I will do my utmost to look after them, not just to provide for their food and drink, but also to ensure their safety!
As for the doubts of my eldest uncle and aunt, I also want to clarify them today. I will not be going to university. No matter where I go in the future, my younger siblings will always be with me. I make this statement today and ask everyone here to witness it!”
Everyone present was stunned for a moment, then someone quickly said, “Alright, we’ll be witnesses! Not just us, even the village head is here, we’ll all witness this!”
Others quickly caught on and echoed, “Yes, yes, we’ll all be witnesses for Su Qiao. Enough talking, it’s almost noon, village head, why don’t we help Su Qiao and the others move now?”
The four siblings had the orphan’s pension left by their father, forty yuan a month in total!
If they moved out to live independently, Su Changfu and Su Sanmei naturally would no longer have any reason to claim that money.
Forty yuan a month was more than many other households in the village earned. Why shouldn’t these siblings be able to live on it themselves?
Although some villagers felt a bit sorry that Su Qiao wouldn’t go to university, for a farming family, making a living was the priority.
If Su Qiao stopped studying, the county would surely arrange work for her anyway, she was a high school graduate, after all.
With a stable job and salary, few families in the entire village would have the financial comfort that these four siblings would enjoy.
Su Wei was already fourteen this year, right at the age when a boy could start taking responsibility for the household. If he could hang on a little longer, he could help Su Qiao take care of their younger siblings.
Thinking this way, there really was no need for the four children to live under someone else’s roof and endure such a stifling life!
The more people thought about it, the more they agreed that Su Qiao’s plan made sense.
And because their earlier sympathy for the children was still fresh, everyone naturally took their side.
As people started preparing to take action, Su Changfu and Su Sanmei were left flustered and helpless.
Once the crowd had mostly settled on a plan, Jin Guiyou cleared his throat.
He didn’t respond directly to the others but instead looked coldly at Su Changfu and commanded: “I don’t care how much bride price you took from Comrade Xiao, return it all immediately, every last cent! Not a single penny can stay! That money was earned with blood and sweat defending the country, and you, Su Changfu, actually had the nerve to take it?”
Su Changfu’s face went pale at those words.
Being from the same village and of considerable age, Jin Guiyou scolded him but didn’t want to humiliate him too much.
After saying this, he ignored him and turned to the crowd, gesturing with his hand to make a final decision: “Alright, let Su Qiao and her siblings pack their things first. Then we’ll help them move everything. Get it done before lunch!”
“Alright!”
“Got it!”
Everyone echoed in agreement.
Seeing things had turned out this way, Su Changfu and Su Sanmei realized there was nothing they could say anymore.
Still, they did have leverage over Su Qiao, and in front of everyone, even if they felt uneasy, they had no choice but to comply.
Just as everyone was preparing to split up and act, Su Wei suddenly spoke up: “Uncle Jin, what about our family’s land?”
His words made everyone pause.
Of course, the second branch of the Su family also had land.
Their father, Su Changhe, had worked in the city as a temporary worker, but his household registration was still in the village. When the village distributed land during the collective contracting reforms, they were allotted just over three mu of land for their family.
While Su Changhe was alive, he mostly let Su Changfu’s family farm it, since his two sons were grown and had plenty of labor.
During busy seasons, Su Changhe would take Su Qiao and her siblings to help, and at harvest time, Su Changfu would bring some of the grain over depending on the yield.
It wasn’t much, but combined with Su Changhe’s city wages, it was enough to live on.
After their father passed away, since the three siblings had been living with Su Changfu’s family, the land naturally remained under their care.
Now that the siblings wanted to become independent, the issue of the land needed to be clarified.